Mobile SEO Best Practices Revealed!

Mobile SEO Best Practices Revealed!

Share

If you’re reading this blog, then you probably already know something about the alleged Google machine. Also, if you’re a marketer you probably know something about what it takes to get on top of the search results for computer users. Computer SEO techniques aren’t going to guarantee the same success in the mobile search engine optimization world. Instead of putting mobile SEO on yet another to-do list, look at these HOT HOT HOT mobile SEO trends… I mean we’re talking EL FUEGO.

Following Google’s Mobile Guidelines

Google has offered several recommendations for search engine optimization practices for the mobile world in preparation for search engine algorithm changes that affect mobile search results. Create a mobile specific sitemap (NOT site) so that Googlebot Mobile can find it, instead of the standard Googlebot. Use a mobile doc type definition such as XHTML Mobile or Compact HTML. If you don’t, Google might categorize that particular page as non-viewable on mobile devices. Have proper mobile redirects in place so that mobile user agents are sent to the appropriate version of your site. Not only does this make Google happier, it also decreases your mobile abandonment rates. The statistics vary from source to source, but mobile users tend to be less patient then those on the computer.

Coding Websites with a Responsive Design

A responsive design is an alternative to coding a separate desktop and mobile version of your website. This type of design is recommended as one of three basic mobile website types by Google for a few reasons. The first is that the actual content on the page is the same no matter what device you use to access it, with identical URLs. This cuts down on potential duplicate content problems, cloaking issues, and other problems that mobile SEO runs into. The only thing that changes with this type of design is the CSS used to control the page rendering.

Page Load Time

Page load time has been found to have a significant impact on mobile search engine results, as well as abandonment rates. This is one area where responsive design has a bit of a problem with, mostly if you’re serving a lot of media on your website. If your page load times suffer under a responsive design, a dynamic design provides an alternative that fixes this issue. Dynamic designs have different versions of the website based on the user agent. This allows you to serve a mobile version of the site that isn’t loaded down with embedded video and flash content.

Mobile Keyword Research

Don’t use standard keyword tools to figure out what terms to optimize for mobile SEO efforts. People don’t search with smartphones the way they do desktop computers, or even tablets. Instead, use a tool that breaks down search volume based for mobile users to give you a better idea of what terms to target. Don’t forget that local is soooo important here. With mobile it’s increasingly common that geolocation tools are used. Proximity plus interest can result in big, big dollars for marketers.

Anne Ahola Ward
Editor in Chief
Annebot, aka Anne A. Ward is Editor-in-Chief for MobileFOMO. She is a futurist, growth hacker and co-founder of CircleClick, LLC. As an early entrant into the field of search engine optimization, Anne has helped many of her clients monetize their SEO programs. She has helped clients to exceed their previous lead generation goals.
Follow me on twitter @annebot